Saving the Savior
by victorious1314
Summary: Placed in season 3. Emma is Kidnapped by Zelena and tortured at her hands. Will her family be able to find her before she looses her mind completely? Disclaimer: I do not own the cover image, Once Upon a Time, or the OUAT characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Saving the Savior**

_**Chapter One**_

**AU: **Hello! This is my new series, and yes, I am still writing "A Rose's Thorns." I've just been wanting to write something where Emma is the main character for a while because of the recent events on the show. Emma is turning dark and her character has consequently become more interesting in my opinion. This is going to be place in season three before Zelena was "killed." I hope you enjoy this story, I have no idea how long it will end up being. Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm.

**Emma POV**

I force another shot down my throat and it leaves a burning sensation in my mouth. Ruby is looking at me nervously now, hesitantly pouring me more drinks but I tell her to keep them coming. If there ever was a time to drink it would be now, with not knowing who the Wicked Witch is, to my confusing relationship with Hook. As if it wasn't hard enough for me to open up to someone already, my fiance' in New York turned out to be a goddamn flying monkey. Neal is gone as well so how can I trust Killian not to leave me as well? My vision is swaying and I find myself focusing on my breathing for no reason. I smile at Ruby and clumsily slide a ten dollar bill across the counter to her.

"Emma," she sighs, "I'm going to call your parents to pick you up, okay?"

I scowl and shake my head, "No, absolutely not, I'm fine." This is ridiculous, "I hate being treated like a child." I say the last part out loud accidentally but I pay no mind to the regretful look that crosses the wolf girl's face. I stand up and stumble out of the diner, grateful that nobody else is here at this time of night to see their precious savior in this state. I walk down the silent street and try to desperately steady myself on the edge of a building.

My eyes go wide as I feel as though a hand is clenching my stomach. I flip around and vomit into a nearby bush. Tears blur my vision as I dry heave and try to keep my gagging noises under control so no one would hear me. I spit on the ground and wipe my mouth but I suddenly feel a hand on my back. I jump and can't find enough energy after becoming ill to scream, but instead make a deep grunting noise. My eyes focus on the face of Zelena, my mother's midwife.

I let out a strangled breath of relief but my face settles into a grimace. Zelena would surely tell David and Snow about this and they deserve to just be able to focus on their new soon to be baby. I just wanted to escape reality for a while, not worry my pregnant mother. My eyes fill with tears and I assuredly look like a teenage girl caught sneaking alcohol.

"Please don't tell anyone!" I beg between sobs. Zelena simply smiles and places her hand on my forearm. Instead of feeling comforted, I feel a shiver of cold run down my spine, despite being warm from the liquor. I haven't liked people touching me for as long as I can remember so I awkwardly pull from her grasp and wipe away my pitiful fallen tears.

Zelena takes no notice to my discomfort and takes a steps closer until I am backed against the bush I threw up on.

"There is no reason to be afraid darling. I only want to help you," she says. I look for any sign of compassion or caring in her voice but find nothing but coldness. Her smile is unwavering but just as I'm about to make a run for it she lifts her gloved hand up to her mouth and blows a sparkling powder into my face. Then everything goes black.

I wake up, unable to focus on anything but the dryness in my throat. I try to sit up but my limbs feel paralyzed and heavy. I see nothing but blackness and hear noting but my own breathing. I briefly wonder if I'm underground but force the thought out of my mind when anxiety begins to eat at my core. I don't know how much time passes until I am able to move my toes. Feeling slowly returns to my body and I nearly cry in relief when I can move my arms.

When I try to touch my hands to my face I am held back by what I now realize are heavy chains clamped on each wrist. A cry escapes from my throat as I lay there for several more hours waiting for every last bit of the paralysis to leave my body. I am left with my own thoughts as I try to remember what happened and how I ended up here but the last thing I remember was Zelena blowing the powder into my face. Does she work for the Wicked Witch? Or even worse, Is she the Wicked Witch herself? Either way I'm screwed.

I am finally able to sit up and immediately follow the chain on my left hand to find it is attached to a wall. I feel around to see if I can find away to pull it off but cannot. I let out a huff of air in frustration as my hands find a handle of a crank. I pull it weakly but manage to move it about an inch when there is a clicking noise and a light pulling on my arm. I realize that the crank is for tightening the chains.

A flash of hope runs through my body and I try to push it so it would give me more slack but it won't budge. Fear replaces the hope that had filled me as images of what my captor is planning on doing to me that requires restraining me this way fly though my mind.

I reach over to my right hand to discover the same mechanism and collapse onto the concrete floor as violent, fearful sobs rock through me. When I run out of tears to cry I lay back down and try to think of things and people that make me happy to calm my post-crying hiccups. I ignore the sandpaper state of my throat as images of Henry fill my mind. Henry, he is still under the curse that Regina placed him and I under before we were sent to New York. How will anyone explain to him that I'm gone? Will he ever be able to remember? I start to hyperventilate and I force myself to think of something different.

I instead create a scenery in my head where I am at home with Snow and David. The television is on and we are eating pizza and watching a stupid show. Except we aren't really watching, we are talking about our days and making up for the lost twenty eight years. Henry is absorbed in his book and I'm laughing at an unheard dad joke that David made. Hook is sitting on the couch with my listening and smiling but not commenting, letting us have family time.

I fall asleep with the cold sensation of drying tears on my cheeks along with the false warmth from the living room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Saving the Savior**

**Chapter Two**

**AU: **Hello. Here is Chapter two of Saving the Savior! Thank you so much for all of the positive feedback, I love reading reviews from you guys :) Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm. ~ victorious_1415

**Emma POV**

I wake up to the noise of a door creaking open and feel all of the hairs on my arms and neck stand on end. My semi-conscious body begins to shake involuntarily and I begin mentally scolding myself for behaving so weak. As the sound of footsteps grows closer and louder my heart beat picks up and I can hear it in my ears. The footsteps stop, close to my feet and the room lights up brilliantly. I cover my eyes with my hands in a desperate attempt to keep the sudden brightness from searing my eyeballs. After a few moments my sight starts to adjust and I can get a look at my surroundings for the first time.

The walls are what appear to be cobblestone and the floors are dirty cement. The chains that hold me in place are silver and appear to be shinning with magic. The clothes that I had been wearing previous to my capture are long gone and I am instead dressed in a ratty, blue nightgown that I hadn't even felt I was wearing. I finally look up to meet the eyes of my kidnapper and I shudder when I stare into deep green iris'. Zelena cowers over me wearing an innocent looking, baby blue summer dress.

I sit up and try to push myself as far away as I can from her and her now demented looking smile.

"What do you want?" I demand, my voice scratchy and hoarse from dehydration. Zelena simply smiles and a glass of water appears in her hand, she hands it to me. I hesitantly take the cup from her hand and look into it to see if there is anything wrong with it but end up gulping greedily at the cool liquid. The cup is soon empty and the burning in my throat has cooled. A rumble from my stomach echos throughout the room and I stare up at her, hoping... praying that she'll give me some food. Instead of making a sandwich appear in her hand she laughs lightly and shakes her head.

"Now where would the fun in that be?" She says, her thick accent making her seem impossibly more wicked.

"They're going to find me, and when they do you are going down, you sick bitch!" I yell. Zelena smiles and steps closer to me, I refuse to budge in an act of defiance, but flinch when she grabs my chin tightly and pulls my face close to hers.

"_That_ is what I'm going to destroy in you, _Savior_." She says 'Savior' as if it's poison on her tongue, "That spark in you, I'm going to put it out until you are nothing but a shell of your old self. Then, and only then, will you be ready."

"Ready for what?" I squeak. She giggles in a way that doesn't fit the side of her that she just showed me, pulls away, and says, "That's a surprise Emma." She makes a motion with her hands and the cranks start tightening up my chains until I feel as though I am going to rip and half and tears are running steadily down my face.

"Please. Stop," I beg. A carving knife appears in her right hand and she takes a step closer. I begin to buck and pull against my restraints as my screams of terror bounce off the walls of the windowless room. She makes large gashes all down my arms and legs with the knife and waits several seconds until she heals me with her magic. This continues for hours until I hang limply, with only the chains holding me up.

It's been an hour since I last screamed from the pain and as the edge of the knife bites into my skin I only groan and try to go to another place where I'm happy. I fail at this though because whenever I start to feel like I am really sitting on the couch with my family and lover, the pain brings me back. When she starts to see me passing out she stabs me in the forearm and adrenaline courses through my veins, forcing me to become aware again.

Zelena finally steps away and I silently cry in relief until I feel a tingling sensation all over my flesh and look up to see her extended hands pointing towards me, shooting unknown magic through me. The tingling becomes more intense, then it turns into a itching sensation, then stinging, burning, then finally I feel as though the flesh is being peeled from my bones and my veins are on fire. I scream so loud that I think my eardrums will burst. I'm shaking violently and can only see red from the pain but when I look down to my body I appear physically fine.

If I could properly I would know that the pain is being caused by magic but I cannot even seem to remember my own name. I don't know how long the pain goes on for but unlike the cutting, I don't stop screaming from this. Finally the pain stops abruptly and I am left gasping for air and am making hollow screaming and sobbing noises. I fall to the ground and before I completely loose consciousness I hear her footsteps grow quieter and all of the lights turn off.

_I'm playing with my foster brother in the backyard when I hear yelling from inside of the house. Tommy is three years older then me at fifteen years old and acts very protective of me when it comes to just about everything. I hear the side door slam and see my foster mother storming out of the house, get into her silver car, and drive away speedily. I look up at Tommy with anxious eyes and he pushes me behind him when my foster father yells from inside the kitchen for us to get inside. He looks at me nervously but grips my hand and we walk inside to find my foster dad holding a half empty bottle of scotch and broken glass scattered around the floor. Tommy and him yell a few things at each other that I don't care to understand and I whimper when I feel a small shard of glass digging into the sole of my foot._

_ My foster father's attention is brought to me when he hears my sudden noise and a sloppy smile breaks out across his face, "C'mere Emmy." Tommy stiffens and pushes me behind him. The adult yells obscenities that I'd heard Tommy's friends use before but never did myself at Tommy. Tommy turns around and starts to usher me towards the door but I see the drunken man raise his bottle up high and I yell a warning to Tommy, but it's too late. The glass shatters against the hardness of his skull and he crumples to the ground. I begin to sob and try to run away from the evil man but the glass that has dug even deeper into my feet prevents me from being able to move fast._

_ He grabs me by the waist and slams me down on the table. _**AU: ****I'm not going to write this scene because this is rated T and it's just far too disturbing. He sexually assaults her and I don't want to write that, sorry.**

_ After he clumsily stumbles away Tommy gets up from the ground and cries over me, trying to get me to respond to him. I stare at the ceiling, unable to feel or move as he calls the police and I pass out. _

I wake up to the darkness with tears running down my cheeks and pain in my stomach from hunger. I let out a loud sob as the memory from the previously missing piece of my childhood plays in my mind again. I knew something happened to me back then because about a year of my life is missing but I never wanted to remember. If something so traumatic happened to me that my brain tried to block it from me to protect me then I think I am better off not remembering.

I didn't even know I knew somebody named Tommy. If I ever escape from this goddamn hell, I will find him. I wait in the darkness as tears stream down the corners of my eyes and into my hair for the Wicked Witch, Zelena, to return and torture me again. I feel the rumbling in my stomach again and groan in pain. My shoulders ache from the chains that Zelena hadn't readjusted so I had slack to move.

"Emma." I hear a small voice whisper. I jump and turn in the direction that the voice came from, looking for the source even though I cannot see an inch in front of my face through the thick blackness.

"Who's there?" I ask shakily. I hear a sigh and some shuffling across the room and a voice responds, "My name is Isabella, I'm in the room next to yours. I'm talking through a hole in the wall." The voice is high and innocent seeming enough so I reply, "How long have you been here?"

There is a moment of silence until I hear her reply, "About a week, I think. What does the Wicked Bitch want with you?" I let out a hollow laugh and shrug, "She said she wants to put out my spark until I'm empty and then use me for something. She wont tell me what."

Isabella scoffs, "She hasn't even spoken to me, I'm starving and all that she is giving me is water," her voice breaks, "I just want to go home."

I feel sadness swell in my heart, "When my family saves me, I'll get you out too. Don't worry." I hear her sigh and say, "I hope you're right, Emma."

I didn't have time to say anything else before oblivion swallowed me whole once again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Saving the Savior**

_**Chapter Three**_

**AU:** _Hey peoples! Thank you so much again for all of the kind reviews! I love reading what you have to say and take all of your ideas into consideration. I really love this story and am happy to give you the third chapter, so here ya go! :) Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm. ~ victorious_1415_

**Emma POV**

My dreams consisted of flashes of pain that I had just experienced at the hands of Zelena and the abuse from my previous Foster Father. I awake with a start and find myself filled to the brim with worry, not just about the inevitable torture from the Wicked Witch, but the fact that I cannot remember anything else about my Foster Father. I don't even remember being taken to the hospital or testifying in court. Fear creeps up my spine as I begin to wonder if he was ever even imprisoned.

If he got away with it then he could have ruined more girl's lives. A voice pierces through the darkness and I stifle a scream, "What were you dreaming about?" It's Isabella.

I sigh and she senses my hesitation, "You were crying in your sleep, I assume it was a nightmare?" She says gently.

I let out a shaky breath and feel that my arms have gone completely numb from being in the spread out position that Zelena left them in for so long. "Just a painful memory," I say softly.

"Care to elaborate? We only have eachother for company, so we better start talking before we loose our minds and start to hear voices," Isabella says this comically but I can hear the obvious pain in her words. I find myself wondering is she had been hearing voices before I arrived and how long it took for someone in this situation to go completely mad.

"After Zelena visited me yesterday and I passed out I remembered something from my childhood that should have stayed buried." I mutter sorrowfully. I hear her change positions up against the wall that keeps us apart again and I feel envy consume me when I remember the numbness in my arms and shoulders.

"Did somebody hurt you?" She asks nervously. I make a strangled, "uh-huh" sound in return and she mumbles something under her breath that I can't decipher. My stomach makes another grumbling noise and my body lurches in pain, "You say that you've been here a week and she hasn't fed you yet?"

"No," Isabella says, "Only water, and I'm not even sure if it's been a week yet. There are no windows or schedules here so I don't know when a day has passed. I'm measuring time as best I can by my increasing hunger."

My heart lurches for her and my impending doom but can't reply when I hear a door slam open and footsteps heading towards me. I begin kicking and screaming, not wanting to experience the agony again. The pain that she sent through me yesterday was worse than giving birth and any other pain I have ever felt combined.

I silently hope that my family has found me and is coming to rescue me but all hope is lost when I hear Zelena's twisted laugh echo throughout the room. The lights flash on and I am blinded yet again. I can only slightly make out the witch's form through my blurry, tear-filled eyes and begin begging for mercy as she steps closer.

Instead of pulling out the carving knife, she hands me a cup of water and holds it up to my lips for me because my arms are still fully stretched out to my sides. I end up not being able to swallow most of it because of my sobs but don't stop drinking until the cup is empty. Zelena pulls the cup away and pulls my face up to look into her eyes.

"It's alright, darling," her voice is devoid of emotion despite the mock comforting words, "I'm only doing this to help you."

She backs away and the same knife from before appears in her hand, she slices through my skin and I scream until my voice is dry and cracking. She stops after I stop shouting and I shake my head weakly when I remember the next part, which is so much worse than anything I have ever experienced. The tingling sensation fills me and tears blur my eyes once again as the pain increases. By the time the magic reaches the level of painfulness as it did yesterday I cannot think, I can only feel. My head whips back and forth as if it will get me away from my pain and my kidnapper.

She stops after what I assume must have been at least an hour. My screams are silent and she has to use her magic to keep waking me up from falling unconscious. To my relief she steps away and the cranks that tighten the chains start turning in the opposite direction and my arms fall beside me before I collapse in a dried bloody heap. I vomit up the water she gave me along with some stomach acid and start shaking violently.

She places her hand on my back and I flinch away from her touch. Zelena, "Tsks" and says in her ever-so-calm voice, "You know this can stop whenever you want it to." I groan in response as I feel myself being pulled into blissful sleep but she shoots an electric shock through me and I start to dry heave and sob again, "W-What do I h-have to do?" I asks in between sobs and retches.

"What I need you to do is very important," she says patronizing, "To escape this pain, all you have to do is become the dark one, my love."

I scream in fear and defiance, "No!" I know that Rumpelstiltskin lost everything when he became the Dark One, and how could I kill Neil's father? Henry's grandfather? I can't let Zelena get into my head, I can't let her turn me into a monster. I will not become dark. I hear and feel the chains begin to tighten again and Zelena mutter darkly, "Wrong answer, _Savior_."

I don't have time to reply before she shoots the magic from her fingertips and into my body. Gone is the tingling sensation that slowly increases until it turns into unbelievable pain. Now Zelena shoots the mind-blowing tormenting magic into me without hesitation. To my surprise it the torture starts to increase until it feels like every inch of my body is consumed in lava and my skin and muscles are melting off. Even my bones feel like they are being broken. "Please!" I scream, "Stop, I'll do it!" The pain slowly decreases but I can't stop screaming from the agony.

I collapse onto the ground when the chains loosen once again and continue to screech, "I'll do it," repeatedly. She kicks me in the side with her pointed boot and I roll over with a groan, trying to catch my breath.

"You are more powerful than you think, Emma. Your magic combined with the Dark One's magic will make you unstoppable. I can definitely use that power."

Tears run down my cheeks and I feel something warm and slick on my hands and look down to see that not only have the cuffs chafed my skin to the point that I can see muscle, but my fingernails have dug into my palms so deep that a steady stream of red runs from the crescent shaped wounds.

Zelena cooes at me with fake pity when she looks at my bloodied hands, "The sooner we get this done, the better. I'll give you the rest of the night to collect yourself and we will do what must be done in the morning."

She walks away, the lights turn off, and I am left in the darkness yet again.

"Isabella," I call for my new friend in a hollow voice, "Isabella!" I say louder through my tears. I wait for any noise that might tell me she is there but hear nothing. I weakly pull myself on my elbows towards where I suppose the hole in the wall that we communicate through is. I hear the familiar rustling noise again and call out to her, "Isabella!" There is no reply and I finally reach the wall and move my bloodied hands across the cobblestone, trying to find the hole.

I hear the noise again and move my hand toward it only to jerk it away when I touch something hairy that makes a loud squeak. The rodent scurries away and I can hear my heart thumping in my ears. My hands desperately scale the wall to find there is not even a crack in the stone. I fall to the ground as hot, fresh tears roll down my cheeks and neck.

"Less than a day," Isabella's voice says calmly, "It took you less than a day for you to go mad."

I wake up pressed against the wall that "Isabella" spoke to me through. I pull myself away from it and try my best to ignore the increasing smell of sickness and urine that fills the room. "Emma, where are you going?" Isabella asks.

"You're not real." I say through gritted teeth, if I'm already insane before I become the Dark One then I will have completely lost it after I kill Rumpelstitskin. I swallow a lump that formed in my throat and try to ignore the hotness in my hands from the inevitable infection from my chaffed wrists.

"So? Maybe I'm just your subconscious trying to keep you sane." She says as if I'm an idiot.

"Sane people don't hear voices." I bark in reply. She sighs and her voice doesn't seem to be coming from any particular direction anymore, the only way it can be described is like when you are wearing headphones and the noise seems to be coming from everywhere.

"Well crazy people don't question their sanity." She mutters. I sigh and try to distract myself from the pain in my wrists by thinking about my family in the living room again. But this time it doesn't feel right, in the vision I'm not enjoying myself, I'm looking at my mother, my father, Hook, and even Henry with rage. They continue to laugh and talk to eachother but I can't shake the boiling pot of rage that seems to envelope around my heart.

"Why haven't they found me? We are supposed to always find eachother!" My weak yet booming voice asks. Isabella doesn't reply and I start to shake with rage. "Why would they let something like this happen to me? They said they would never abandon me agai-"

My rant is cut short by a shrill laughter coming from the other side of the room. The clicking of Zelena's heels grows closer and my animosity is replaced by fear. The lights flicker on again and the first thing I look at is my burning wrists. I discover that they are red around the wounds and oozing pus and white blood cells. I let out a strangled wail when the cuffs open and are torn away from the skin that was growing attached to the metal.

Zelena grabs my hair roughly to pull me up and drags me wordlessly out of the atrocious room where I felt unfathomable pain. My shaking legs try my best to keep up with her pace but find myself falling behind, which she responds to by yanking my hair harder. We walk up some stairs and I look around to see an old styled country house. The light pouring in from the windows in the house is heavenly looking and I can barely contain my happiness when am pulled out of the door and breathe fresh air for the first time in, I don't know how long.

I stumble across a field and see that the house is surrounded by dense forrest, the urge to run is great but I know that I wouldn't get two feet before Zelena would shoot pain through me again and drag my back to the basement of the country house, saying that I, "wasn't ready yet."

I briefly wonder where we are headed but know when I see the in-ground doors of yet another cellar.

"That must be where she's keeping Rumpelstiltskin." Isabella says. A chill runs throughout my body and my breathing turns shallow. Zelena opens the cellar doors with her magic and pulls me inside after her. I stumble down the steep stairs and my eyes take a moment to adjust to the light. Rumpelstiltskin is sitting on a stool, with a spinning wheel, in a cage. His eyes search me wildly and widen when they take in my state. He appears well fed and I selfishly feel jealously towards him, even though I am in here to kill him.

Zelena places his dagger in my hand and without hesitation opens his cell doors.

"Well, get on with it then." she says impatiently.


	4. Chapter 4

**Saving the Savior**

**Chapter Four**

**AU:** Here is chapter four in my fanfiction series, Saving the Savior! Thank you again for all of the wonderful reviews! I love reading them and am so glad that you guys love the story so much. If I wasn't busy with school and life in general so much I would update constantly but sadly the world moves on. Also if you haven't checked out my other story, A Rose's Thorns you should, it's not as popular and defiantly not as well written in the beginning because my writing skills have improved greatly since I started that story last year in my opinion. That story is a lot weirder than this one but eh, what can you do? A lot is going to happen and I'm so fucking excited to write this chapter so here you go! :D P.S Sorry if this chapter is a bit fast paced, I just can't help myself. Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm. ~victorious_1415

**Rumpelstiltskin's POV**

My hands move fast as I spin piles upon piles of gold. My head aches as Baelfire's thoughts intrude on mine but I push him out by focusing on the spinning of the wheel more intently. "_No more room_." I mumble under my breath.

I nearly jump out of my skin when the cellar door is opened but roll my eyes when Zelena steps down the stairs. My breath catches in my throat though when she pulls the Savior in after her. Baelfire's thoughts begin screaming in my head and I let him take control, she is his love after all. Our eyes widen as we notice her hollow cheeks and bloodstained, filthy nightgown. It becomes apparent that she has been with Zelena for quite some time. We notice the deep, infected, and oozing wounds around her wrists which makes our blood boil.

Before we can say anything though, Zelena pulls out the dagger and hands it to Emma. We can't seem to breathe as our cell door opens for the first time in far too long.

Zelena's cold voice pierces through the room as she says, "Well, get on with it then."

Bitter realization dawns on us and we fall off the chair in fear. Tears fall down Emma's face and half of us wants to wipe them away but the other half keeps us rooted to the ground in cowardice.

"Please, don't make me do this! I'll do anything!" Emma wails but before she can do anything else we see magic shoot from Zelena's fingers, into Emma. The savior crumples to the ground and blood-curdling screams echo through the small cellar. Tears from Baelfire streak down our cheeks and when we try to crawl towards her, we are knocked back with magic.

"Okay! Okay! I'll do it, please, just stop!" Emma screeches. Our heart begins beating wildly as we are pinned against the ground with an invisible force as Emma shakily crawls towards us. The dagger is clenched in her right hand and is carelessly being dragged against the stone floor which causes a scraping noise to emit from it.

Emma looks at us with blurry eyes and shifts onto her knees as she raises the shaking dagger above her head.

"I'm sorry," she whispers brokenly. The dagger pierces though our chest faster than one can blink. Our body arches from the pain and the only sounds that can be heard around the room are our groans and Emma's labored breathing. Light fills the room and a sob is heard beside us as our vision turns black. I speak comforting words to Bae through my mind as we succumb to the force that I believed I never would see, death.

**Emma's POV**

"I'm sorry." I whisper through my hot tears before I shove the dagger through the Dark One's chest. Power surges through me as Rumpelstiltskin moans in pain and fights for breath. Unimaginable guilt flies through me and Isabella can be heard crying in the deepest parts of my mind. Blinding light fills the grey, stone room and as light drains from Rumpelstiltskin's eyes his feature begin to change to those of Baelfire's. I choke on a sob as his face changes back to his own and back to Baelfire's again.

I feel an almost pleasant burning under my skin and briefly wonder-no, pray that I am dying. Instead time seems to slow down, my teeth grit as incomprehensible power fills me. When the light fades away and I am left feeling empty, yet full at the same time, I gaze upon Rumpelstiltkin's form. Instead of seeing him dead and alone, he is laying next to Baelfire, my first love.

Fury flows through my veins and I snatch the dagger from the ground before Zelena can. Instead of Rumpelstiltskin inscribed in the metal, there is my name, Emma Swan. I feel power shoot from the ends of my fingers, not unlike static electricity as I whip around to see Zelena cowering. "Well she didn't really think this one through, did she?" Isabella mutters.

An amused yet enraged smirk settles on my lips as she desperately tries to make a run for it up the cellar stairs. I hear a loud cracking noise as her neck is snapped and her body goes limp. I catch her before she falls and flip her around to stare into her green eyes. Fear is etched into every one of her features along with a bit of confusion from how these recent events played out. She isn't dying fast enough for my liking from the snapped neck so I press my hand down on her pale throat.

As I crush her windpipe I watch the life drain from her eyes and after a few minutes of ensuring that I have successfully killed her, I toss her over my shoulder like a ragdoll. I smile at my new strength and walk into the woods. I look down at my previously heavily wounded wrists to see that they are covered in thick scars that wrap all the way around, much like the cuffs.

I use my dark magic to summon a mirror to appear in my hand and look at my face for the first time in at least a week. My hair is filthy and hangs limply around my head and my cheeks are hollow as if I am a skeleton. My eyes have dark purplish shadows underneath them and perhaps my most noticeable feature are my eyes, gone are my green eyes, now I have sparkling golden orbs with iris' that take up most of my eyeball, giving me an almost reptilian look.

I sigh as I trek deeper into the forest, knocking over a few trees that stand in my way out of annoyance. My heightened sense of hearing picks up some voices about a mile away. I detect David's, and Hook's voice among several others in what I assume is a search party. I place the dagger in the waistline of my underpants and adjust it so it can't be seen before magically teleporting myself to the people.

Once the purple smoke clears I look into the startled eyes of the humans. My father is the first one to break the silence, "Emma!" He yells in alarm.

I shrug Zelena's lifeless body off my shoulder and take note of her purple face from my strangulation. A few more beats pass and I watch as everyone's eyes shift and glance at me full of fear. I glance down at myself and notice that I'm still dressed in my blue nightgown that is covered in old and new blood stains, my skin is covered in dirt and blood as well.

I suppose I should be feeling embarrassment because of my state but can't summon enough emotional energy to care. My biological father takes a nervous step closer and grips his gun, still snug in it's holster. I blink and tilt my head curiously at him.

"Emma, what happened?" David asks shakily, glancing down at the body of who he only knows as his pregnant wife's mid-wife. I feel an out of place smile form on my lips and don't bother to stop it from forming.

"Zelena," I say, my voice sounds giddy, maniac even, "Your Wicked Witch."

David raises his eyebrows at my claim but seems more concerned about my behavior. My lips begin to twitch as I try to stifle a laugh, a small and high-pitched giggle escapes nonetheless before I clamp my scarred hand over my mouth. Everything is happening so fast, it's almost comical. One minute I'm wishing for death on the floor of Zelena's torture chamber, the next I'm killing her and delivering her body to my father.

"Swan," Hook says nervously, "I don't know what happened between you and the witch but I promise you that your parents and I will help you."

I roll my eyes at him and reach under my nightgown to pull out the dagger. My father falls to his knees, Hook makes a noise that almost sounds like a dying animal, and gasps are heard around the search party whom I now realize are the Merry Men. "You can't help me." I say nonchalantly, "I'm damned."

I sigh and look at the grief stricken face of David. "If he really cared, he would have saved you before this happened." Isabella says. I snarl at him and let out a barking laugh before saying, "You found me, but it's too late, Charming."

I understand that it's the darkness from the life-long curse bestowed upon me that's causing me to act like this and it doesn't bother me when my father starts sobbing. "Might as well let him get it out now, maybe he'll leave us alone from now on." Isabella whispers.

"No." I hear Hook say with ignorant defiance.

I stuff the dagger back into the side of my underpants and without any gesture, I throw him up against a nearby tree. Everyone freezes and my emotions drown out their desperate cries and it starts to rain heavily. I know I cause this weather but I don't bother to stop it. Scenes flash through my mind of Hook saving my life, our kiss in Neverland, and my growing affection for him.

I let him go and glare my father and the Merry Men, "_Don't. Come. Back_." I yell over the now violently blowing wind and can barely see past my dripping hair that is being blown to cover most of my face. Understanding, grief, and anxiety settles on everyone's profiles before they begin running away into the woods. David and Killian look back hesitantly before joining the others in their sprint.

The weather almost instantly calms down when they are all out of sight and I send Zelena's damp body to the street in front of the clock tower, the idiots left it. I sigh and squeeze the water from my hair that is tinted slightly pink from some dried blood on my scalp.

I push over a tree in frustration and grip my hair by the roots and pull. "Emma, calm down. We'll figure this out." Isabella says calmly in my head.

"Oh yeah? And how the hell are we going to do that? I should have just let the witch torture me. I'm a monster now, a monster who just scared away the only family it's ever had!" I yell into the cool air. My eyes travel up to the orange afternoon sky and the urge to throw a childish tantrum becomes nearly unbearable.

"We can make it together, I know we can. Let's just find somewhere to rest tonight. Even though you don't necessarily need to sleep, it's good to give yourself a break." She speaks kindly, yet somehow she manages to make herself not sound patronizing. I nod after a bit of thought as I approach a cave.

"Well... I was thinking of a house or something, but this is fine I guess." She sighs.

I walk into the dark, damp cave and find a cold spot behind a rock. I lay down and allow myself to be dragged into a deep, nightmare-filled sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Saving the Savior**

**Chapter Five**

**AU:** Hi guys! The last chapter was a bit fast paced because I was just really excited about all the things I want to happen in this story :D Thanks for the reviews again, I love reading them! If you have any suggestions for what direction you want the story to go in please send me a message or leave it in a review :) 3 This chapter is going to be exploring Emma's more insane, sickly cheerful side. Also I hated the Frozen part of season four but this is around that time frame so I'm going to add some of that shit in, but I'll try to make it better D: Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm. ~victorious_1415

**Emma's POV**

Waking up in a cave is definetly not on my bucket list, but then again, neither was becoming the Dark One. I stand up and try to run my hands through my blonde mane but find dried blood, knots, and grime keeping me from doing so. My filthy nightgown sticks to my body and the smell of myself causes me to grimace.

"You do realize you can clean yourself up with magic, right?" Isabella scolds playfully. I roll my eyes and make a gesture that now seems natural towards a wall in the cave. A steaming tub appears and I peel off the disgusting articles of clothing before stepping into the water. I scrub myself with soap and burning water until my skin is pink and raw, and my hair is back to it's usual shade of gold.

A clean towel floats in mid-air beside the bathtub and I grab it as I step out. I shiver at the coldness of the cave floor and change the flooring into carpet around me.

"Might as well make a home here for now." Isabella snickers and the room shimmers for a moment before changing from a dreary cave into a castle-like home. I put a cloaking spell on the entrace of the cave so no one except me can see what is really inside as I walk to my new vanity. An ivory comb sits atop the dresser, in front of a large golden mirror and I comb out my hair.

"Oh yeah, I can get used to this." I mutter as I take in my surroundings more thoroughly. The walls are clean and wooden and on the ceiling there is a mural, identical to one you would see in an art museum. I shrug off my towel, leaving me naked in front of the mirror and grab the dagger from the pile of clothes beside the tub. I carefully place it on a mantel beside my bed and place a force field around it that even the strongest sorcerer cannot pierce other than me.

I walk back over to the large mirror and study my appearance carefully. My bones stick out, causing my body to appear all angles, and my skin is still pale but if I look closely enough I can see an olive sheen to it which makes me worry if I'll grow scales like Rumpelstiltskin. I cringe as I think about what I was forced to do to him... and Neil. That witch made me kill the father of my child. If I could murder her again just to see her suffer, I would.

With a sharp flick of my wrist I am no longer unclothed but am instead dressed in a black and burgandy red gown. I laugh along with Isabella as I change my attire to suit me better, feeling like a little kid again playing dress-up. I finally settle on a dress that sweeps the floor and has a tear up the right side, exposing my leg up to my upper thigh, and it has another long slit going down my back that is held together loosely with crimson red lace. My hair is sweeped to the side and gives me a wild appearence, I have deep red lipstick, and a black blacelet that wraps around my middle finger.

I walk away from the mirror feeling giddy and content, the loose fitting dress swaying with my step. I notice my bare feet which are soon covered with knee-high black boots. As I sit down on my bed and let out a contented sigh Isabella interupts my thoughts, "Well this is boring."

I roll my eyes and yell into my empty home, "What do you suppose we do?" I create a book shelf on the opposite side of the room, in hopes of sating her boredom and consiquently my annoyance.

"What will those people do without a Dark One, they are always getting into trouble with magic and dark forces." Isabella says thoughtfully.

"Oh no! I am not going there, I already scared the shit out of them. They wont want anything to do with me."

Isabella groans in frusteration, "Well, do you want to just live in this cave for the rest of eternity? It will get so lonely, and I need people." She pouts.

"We have eachother..." I mumble sadly.

"I'm not real."

"Oh yeah." I blink, "Seriously, I don't want to be around them."

Isabella huffs, "Why not though?" I sweep my hand over my face and moan hopelessly, "Remember when I told you after I was tortured by Zelena the first time that I remembered something from my childhood?"

"Yes," she answers. I grit my teeth and say, "When I was twelve I was molested by my foster father. I know it's not directly Mary Margret and David's fault, but they _did_ put me in the damned wardrobe to save their own asses." I sigh, "And if that wasn't enough, they didn't even save me in time from Zelena. Because, you know, they were busy with their replacement baby."

I feel like a whiny child but the anger I feel for my parents is undeniable and painful. Isabella remains silent so I magically put some makeup on my face that I would never be able to do on my own with my shaky hands and terrible skills. I have maroon red lips, thick black eyeliner, and I long black metal earrings that swing with every movement of my head.

The love that I felt for my family has been covered by malice from what they did to me. A growl rips through my throat as I think of Henry, he told me that happy endings exist, and that hero's win. He is my son and I will always care for him but my heart feels as though it is wrapped in steel and bitterness, not allowing me to feel the motherly love I once felt towards him. Thoughts of getting revenge on my old foster father plauge my mind until it is all I can think about.

Images of his skinned body float through my brain and I crave the satisfaction of vegence like an emancipated man does bread. I'm broken from my thoughts by sudden voices that I hear outside of my new home. I hear David's again among others that I cannot place through my rage. I transport myself in front of them and a ratty old blanket flies towards me.

I recognize it as my baby blanket that Snow made for me before she sent me through the portal to this world. The fabric floats before me and falls down by my feet. I look up to the shocked faces of the humans who used the locater spell to find me.

"I told you to leave us alone!" I scream at them, not bothering to correct my mistake. Regina stands next to Robin with wide eyes and speaks softly, "Emma, you don't need to live like this, we can help you if you'd just let us."

"I don't need your help." I growl spitefully, "I have all I could ever want here, and I don't want to be near any of you."

I see David flinch out of the corner of my eye and turn my attention to him, "Is that all you came here for? To beg me to come back?" I chuckle.

"Actually," Regina starts, "We're having a bit of an issue with a new sorcoress in town, we need the Dark One's magic."

I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, "What makes you think I will help?" I cross my arms and look at everyone's faces harshly. Regina meets my furious stare and says, "We were hoping that you would give a damn about your own family, that you would stop this selfish, childish act and-" She is cut short as invisible forces grip her throat and lift her into the air.

Regina chokes on her own breath and Robin shoots an arrow through my shoulder. Regina falls to the ground as I break out in laughter at the petty attempt to sedate me. I break the arrowhead off and yank out the smooth wooden stick from my flesh. No pain is felt and that only makes me laugh harder. I gasp for air and look up with blurry eyes at their appaled faces.

"Ok, ok." I try to steady my breathing, "I'll help you with this sorcoress, only because you amuse me." A shrill giggle escapes from my mouth and I wipe a fallen tear from my cheek.

"So when do we go?" I ask impatiently. David stutters, "N-now if that's okay." His uncertianty around me makes me feel warm inside and I magically transport us in a cloud of purple smoke to the police station. While the others get take in their surroundings I grab a doughnut out of a half empty box on David's desk. I look over to Regina and see her being supported by Robin and purple bruises in the shape of hands that were not seen forming on her throat.

"So who is the new witch?" I ask casually before I bite into the chocolate pastry. One of the merry men proceeds to tell about an unknown sorceress seen around the town who can control ice and snow. I nearly doze off and only remain awake to stuff another doughnut in my face. I lean back in an office chair and he abruptly stops his story when the doors open and Mary Margret rushes in. My eyes immediately go to her now flat stomach and I roll my eyes.

"The bun is out of the oven. I repeat, the bun is out of the oven." Isabella chirps. Mary Margret rushes towards me with tears in her eyes, which have bags under them from lack of sleep. When she tries to bring me in for a hug I make a sound of disgust and jerk away from her. Pain is evident on her face so I wait for remorse to fill me, but it doesn't come.

"I'm so sorry we couldn't find you, Emma. We failed you again and I am so, so sorry. I-" I hold up my hand to cut her off.

"There is no need for apologies." She looks relieved at my words so I continue, "What's done is done. Perhaps you wont ruin the next one." I gesture to her stomach and don't bat an eye when she breaks down crying. David comes to her side immediately and looks at me like he doesn't even know who I am anymore, "Why would you say that? We never ment for any of this to happen!" He yells

"Get out," I say quietly to the bystanders in the room, "Get out!" I yell again. The Merry Men and Regina scurry out and I face my despicable parents.

"I only said what was true, you sent me through a portal because of your own mistakes, _Snow."_ I sneer. Mary Margret starts crying harder and David steps closer to me, in what I guess was supposed to be authoritively.

"Do not speak to us that way," Charming barks, "We only wanted to give you, your best chance! If we hadn't sent you through the portal you would have been under the curse with us, with no hope of being set free."

I laugh darkly, "_My best chance_? You have _**no idea**_ what happened to me in the foster care system, you ignorant _prince."_ I growl and fiercely lock eyes with my biological father. Confusion, pain, and anger are easily seen in his piercing blue eyes and I meet them with furious golden ones. A hand touches my arm and instead of lashing out in my rage I transform back into a frightened child and flinch away, almost expecting Zelena's knife to cut into me again or my foster father to hurt me.

The hand pulls away immeditely, sensing my discomfort and I look at Mary Margret with revulsion obvious on my features.

"What happened to you?" She asks through tears. I laugh bitterly, "_Don't. Ever. Touch. Me. Again_._" _I say sharply. I open the doors again and the Merry Men walk back in and I take note that Regina and Robin are no longer among them.

I clap my hands together, "So how are you planning on catching this Ice Bitch?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Saving the Savior**

**Chapter Six**

_AU: _Hello! There hasn't been any reviews on the past two chapters so I was a bit confused on if you guys still wanted me to continue this series :/ I really enjoy writing it and it's difficult to decide what should happen next so just send me any of your ideas to help out! Anyways here's Chapter 6 of, Saving the Savior. Also this chapter will be a bit shorter than the rest. Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm. ~victorious_1415

**Emma's POV**

The urge to lash out at the simple beings around me is extreme. Nearly everything that falls from their mouths makes me roll my eyes. I find myself tapping my jagged claws against the desk and fighting the temptation to rip out somebody's throat just to watch everyone's amusingly appalled reactions. They go through senseless plans to stop the Ice witch and stop her reign of "terror." Hearing how horrified they are over her giant snow monsters makes me want to see how horrified they would be if they saw the darkness of my mind. A chuckle escapes me throat and I unintentionally capture everyone's frightened attention.

"Well, you all sound extremely unprepared." I mock. David shoots me an agitated look, "And what do _you_ expect us to do, Emma?" He says, still mad over my "_unacceptable behavior_" towards Mary Margret earlier.

"He's treating you like a child who needs to be scolded." Isabella barks darkly. I scrape the wooden desk with my talons, causing a high-pitched noise to be heard, not unlike what happens when somebody scratches on a chalk board. The scraped off wood curls around itself before breaking off while everyone winces and some cover their ears.

"Don't underestimate me, _Charming_." I say before baring my sharp teeth and letting a growl escape. His eyes widen and he looks at me with conflicted concern.

"As I was saying," I stand up, stretch my limbs, and continue, "We need to stop playing defense. We can't wait until she strikes us to act, I'll seek her out with little to no problem and we can question her in the station. I can prevent her from using magic while we do so."

Eyebrows raise as I start walking towards the door of the station.

"Where are you going?" A Merry Man with a particularly bushy beard asks shakily. I sigh, "They really can't keep up can they," Isabella groans. "I'm going to get the Ice Witch, just have a fucking cell ready for her by the time I get back." I push open the doors with my magic and walk out, muttering, "Idiots," under my breath as I exit.

I look around the empty street, the beloved king and queen probably told the Storybrooke citizens to remain in their homes until the "situation" is resolved. I feel my magic travel through my body as I try to locate the closest magic user. I sense Regina and the Blue Fairy's magic before feeling a magic that is different from any I have experienced before. Without hesitation I transport myself to the unknown sorcerer.

As the purple smoke fades I find myself staring into the large frightened eyes of a young blonde woman with a sparkling blue dress. With a twinge of magic I learn her name.

"Elsa, is it?" I greet her pleasantly. Her hands shoot out and she tries to hit me with a blast of ice magic. I block it and raise an eyebrow at her, "Not one for chit-chat?"

She sends another blast of power at me in vain and takes off running once she sees me still standing. Looking at her with curiosity. I laugh and knock her to the ground with a wave of dark magic. Her breathing spikes and blue eyes dilate as she tries to hit me with some shards of icicles that she conjured out of thin air. I send them flying towards the opposite wall of the what I now notice is a secluded wooden cabin.

"P-Please. Don't kill me!" She cries desperately. I scoff, "I'm not going to kill you." I hit her on the head with a invisible object and she crumples to the ground with a small amount of blood dripping from a miniscule wound on her forehead.

"Now where would the fun in that be?" I sneer.

"You sound just like her." Isabella says coldly and I realize with a start who she's talking about.

***Flashback***

_The cup is soon empty and the burning in my throat has cooled. A rumble from my stomach echoes throughout the room and I stare up at her, hoping... Praying that she'll give me some food. Instead of making a sandwich appear in her hand she laughs lightly and shakes her head._

_ "Now where would the fun in that be?" She says, her thick accent making her seem impossibly more wicked. _

***End of Flashback***

Tears prickle at my eyes and feel a warm liquid drool down my cheeks. In shock I wipe them away and look down to see they are not water, but thick blood. I clean the rest of the fluid from my face and gently pick up the fallen girl from the dusty floor. I heal the wound from her head and briefly wonder if this is what I looked like to Zelena. _Did she feel remorse and shame as I do now? _I shake my head, of course she didn't.

I transport Elsa and I back to the front of the station and find only five of the Merry Men still there along with Hook and my father. I carry Elsa towards one of the green-barred cells and wordlessly lay her down on the bed. I lock the cell and cover it with a magical field that not only keeps her from escaping but also prevents her from using her winter magic.

I wake her up with a burst of adrenaline to her heart and her crystal blue eyes shoot open. Elsa shoots up in the bed and frantically takes in her surroundings.

"Where a-am I? You can't keep me in _a cage_!" She shouts as she fires her magic at the bars, only to have it fire back towards her and only escapes the blow by a few mere inches.

"Yes, we can. Why are you here Elsa?" I ask, less tenderly than I intended. She cowers in fear when her eyes meet mine and I step closer, trying to show her that I meant no harm, causing her to flatten herself against the back wall in terror.

"Did Rumpelstiltskin feel like this all the time?" Isabella sighs woefully. I roll my eyes, feeling the darkness creep back into me again. I giggle, "Tell me darling, perhaps we can help you with what you desire."

"My sister," she says brokenly, "I can't find her." I let out a hollow laugh, "So your logic was to wreck havoc on an innocent town because you don't know where she is?"

She looks at me angrily and throws herself against the enchanted bars and shouts, "You _people _took her from me! I am only trying to get her back!"

I allow her to finish her little tantrum but force her to her knees with my magic and my voice becomes deeper than I have ever heard it, "**Know who you are talking to, bitch**."

Her eyes widen in fear and I knock her backwards onto the hard floor. A hand grasps my shoulder and I send an electric current through them and hear Hook's voice yell out in unexpected pain.

"I don't want to have to kill you Elsa, so listen closely. You will coorperate and if we stumble across your sister then we are sending both of you back to whatever land you came from and you are never going to return. _Understand_?"

Elsa nods, terrified, and I release the paralyzing grip that my magic had on her. Without another word I turn back to the terrified faces behind me which turn paler when they meet my eyes. I subconsciously feel my cheeks to see if any more blood tears fell and find them dry. I tilt my head at the group of men and look down to see Hook's good hand is blistered and red from the electric shock I gave him.

"It's been a long day." I mutter absentmindedly, "I'm going home, and if I return to find that anyone has released the idiot, I _will_ kill you all." I'm bluffing of course, I would probably only kill a couple of them, but they don't know that. I vanish in a cloud of smoke and return to my cave. I shed my dress on the floor and take a brisk bath and freshen up. I look at my mirror and see my now limp hair that appears to have turned silver. My jaw drops, not from my hair but from my eyes. They are _completely _black, like two dark holes in my face that reflect no light whatsoever.

I try to search for any bit of white of gold left in my eyes only to discover my entire eyeball is now completely the color of coal. The olive sheen of my skin is stronger and there is now flecks of gold that can be seen scattered on my scaly feeling flesh. My teeth are still bright white but are even sharper than they were this morning. Even my tongue has changed, starting to split at the end. An unexpected sob wracks through my body and my naked, horrifying form curls into a ball on the floor. I dig my nails so deep into my arms that I scrape bone and my vision is blinded by dark red.

Arms envelope me in a hug and I jerk away with a scream from them. I look up and blink through crimson tears and see a girl with long dark black hair, pale skin, and a kind face. She looks at me with understanding and says in a familiar voice, "It's me, Isabella." I throw myself into her arms and sob into her shoulder, staining her grey shirt.

"I feel so in control, yet out of it at the same time." Her skin is warm and she smells of strawberries. She rubs her hand on my bare back in soothing circles and my tears are soon small hiccups. Isabella walks me to my bed and pulls the covers over me. "Will you be here when I wake up?" I ask childishly.

She nods, "I'll be in your head."

I sigh contently and fall into a deep slumber, ignoring the fact that I have entirely lost my sanity at this point.


	7. Chapter 7

**Saving the Savior**

**Chapter Seven**

_AU: _Hello! I wish I had time to update more often but it gets more difficult with the end of the school year approaching, I'm also moving soon so I'm a bit distracted. Thank you again for the kind reviews, I always appreciate your ideas and opinions. Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm. ~victorious_1415

**Emma's POV**

_ I can feel Zelena's warm breath against my neck and cry out as sweat makes my skin slick. She continues to carve into the flesh of my back and I buck uselessly against my enchanted restraints. A hot liquid pours from my unseen wounds on my back and my vision becomes blurry. Zelena cackles manically and walks around me to look me in the eyes. Except it is no longer Zelena._

_ My foster father, Robert, looks at me with lustful eyes. I scream and feel the deep cuts on my back spilt open even more at my movement. Robert appears to grow taller but when I look down I see that I am shrinking and becoming a young girl again. He towers over me and grabs my face in his hands. His chilling voice whispers from a broad grin, "It's time to play, Emmy." _

A scream wakes me up from my horrid nightmare and it takes me a few moments to realize it was my own. I set fire to a few candles from my bedside and look down in horror to see the bed torn to shreds. I must have done this in my nightmare. Now that I remember my foster father's name I might start remembering more things on a regular basis from now on. I check my internal clock and find that it is 10'oclock in the morning. I clean myself of sweat and grime from the night and let my tangled silver hair hang loosely around my face, not bothering to style it again.

I dress myself in a plain black dress that stops just above my knees and has long sleeves. I don't put any makeup and place some black boots on that almost reach up to my knees and trek outside. The trees around my cave are beginning to turn orange from autumn weather. I transport myself with magic to the front of the station and push open the doors without touching them.

Inside is my mother, who gasps at my appearance, Hook, David, Regina, Robin Hood, and Belle. I freeze when I see Belle's sorrowful face and remember that she was Rumpelstiltskin's wife. I've been so wrapped up in the fact that I killed Neal, that I almost forgot Rumpelstiltskin had people who loved him. I force my eyes away and sit up on a desk, looking at the humans in the room.

"So it's true," Belle says angrily. I am shocked at her daring behavior towards me but remind myself that she has dealt with a Dark One before, literally. I nod and feel anger bubble inside of me, "I didn't have a choice in the matter."

She scoffs, "_Everybody_ has a choice, and you chose to kill my husband." Tears leak from Belle's eyes as she says this.

"I didn't want to, Zelena made me. Stop acting like you are the only one effected by this!" I stalk towards her predatoraly but she does not back down. She scowls and shouts, "You could have fought against her! You are _the Savior _for crying outloud!"

A growl echoes through the room and I see David hesitating to step in out of my peripheral vision. Shadows cast along my face from my hair and my voice comes out eerily calmly, "She tortured me for days. I was starving and when I tried to tell her that I wouldn't kill Rumpelstiltskin, she'd torture me some more. I killed him and watched the life drain from his eyes, only when he was dead did I realize that Neal was living inside of his body as well. I am no Savior. I am a _monster_. Besides, would a Savior do this?" In the blink of an eye she is on the ground with blood pouring from in between her fingers as she clutches her badly wounded cheek.

My talons drip the crimson fluid and I find comfort at the sound of the screams and the dripping sound of the blood on the hardwood floor. A hand touches my shoulder and I pull away from the touch. I expect to see my insistent mother but instead see David. Mary Margret is helping stop the bleeding from Belle's face along with the others and I then realize what I have done.

A choking sound escapes my throat and I subconsciously dig my nails into my palms. My blood mixes with Belle's and I fall to the ground when I catch a glimpse through the crowd at her face. Belle's eye is closed. I say "eye" because the other one has only a part of it left. Her mouth is cut to her ear hole and I can see her teeth through a large puncture hole from my thumb nail. If she does survive this, she will never look the same.

I feel arms pull me into a hug and I don't bother to pull away.

"Serves her right." Isabella snorts. Tears fall faster from my black eyes and a painful wail tears through me. "What have I done?" I cry quietly and I hear a voice shushing me. I know it is my father because when I look down I see that I am staining his jeans with dark red spots. I dig my nails deeper in my hands and David notices. He pulls my hands to look at them and I hear a him make a strangle sound. He rubs circles on my back as if I am a child and softly says, "Relax, it's okay."

"It's not okay, it's never going to be okay," I say through muffled sobs from being held tightly to his chest. He doesn't reply and continues to comfort me and screech makes me jump and nearly pull away from him, "Don't let him touch you! He abandoned you!" Isabella's voice is so loud that it hurts my head and I try to escape from David's arms but he pulls me back roughly and holds me even tighter.

I hear the doors open and some people scurry out, probably to the hospital with Belle. I briefly think I am alone with my father but know I am wrong when I hear footsteps coming towards me. I don't bother to move and can't hear the words spoken between the person over my cries and David so I instead try to calm myself with the vibrations coming from his chest from his deep voice.

He shifts so I am forced to look at him and his eyes widen when he undoubtedly sees the blood flowing from my pitch black eyes. Nonetheless he pushes a strand of hair from my face and I turn around to see Regina is the one who didn't go to the hospital with Belle. I see my mother as well in the opposite corner of the room, covered in Belle's blood. She is turned away from me so I can't see her facial expression but can hear the distinct shudder of her breath from her silent tears.

I look back to Regina and begin to feel completely empty as my sobs quiet down and I try to focus on calming my breathing. Regina looks at me with sheer determination, though I can still see a small glimmer of fear in her eyes, "Are you ready to let us help you, Emma?"

"No. Screw this, lets get out of here Emma." Isabella says angrily. I close my eyes and try to drown out her voice and focus only on my father's hand rubbing my back. I look up at him, my mother, and Regina before nodding hesitantly. Isabella roars in anger and Regina uses her magic to make me fall unconscious in David's arms. The last thing I see is long forgotten Elsa, huddled in her cell, and looking at me with horror.

_I wake up and look around the hospital room and my immediate thoughts are to find Tommy. Instead my eyes land on my social worker, Jenny. She smiles and places her clipboard on the plastic chair beside hers and stands up see me. Jenny smiles nervously and says, "Emma, how are you? You've been asleep for quite some time." _

_ I look at her questioningly and she continues, "You came here two days ago. Do you not remember anything?" She places her hand on mine and I jerk it away and say in an accusingly hoarse voice, "Where's Tommy?" _

_ She frowns as if expecting this question to come up and looks at me with pitying eyes, "You are going to get a new family. We all agreed that seeing him now would not be best for you." I look at her and force my face to become nonchalant. Jenny continues to tell me about my scheduled therapy appointments until I am deemed fit to leave the hospital and tries to get information about my assault from me, to which I respond by looking away and refusing to meet her eyes until she changes the subject. _

_ Suddenly I say, "Where is he?" She looks at me grimly but still asks, "Who are you talking about?" _

_ I narrow my eyes at her and grit my teeth, finding difficulty in even speaking his name, "Robert." Her smile drops and her expression darkens, "When the police got there after Tommy had the neighbors bring you two to the hospital, they found him in his study. He had shot himself, Robert is dead." _

_ Angry thought scream in my head and I feel the familiar heat from the tears that roll down my cheeks and into my hair. Robert took the easy way out. He didn't even have to face punishment for his crimes and I still am forced to live after what he did to me. If I still believed in a god after what happened to me two days ago, I could find comfort in the fact that he is burning in hell. I don't even get that satisfaction. _

My eyes fly open and I sit up quickly to find I am in Mary Margret's apartment. I am in the upstairs bedroom that Henry uses when he stays over. I look down at the bed, expecting to see it torn to shreds from my horrible memory-nightmare but instead see it is intact and my nails are cut short again. I attempt to grow them out again with my dark magic and gasp when nothing happens. I run over the the mirror at the other side of the room and see that I look exactly the same other than my nails and a bracelet on my scarred wrist. I try to pry it off but it does not budge.

I begin angrily scratching and biting at the skin around it like a wild animal caught in a trap. The door opens and Mary Margret steps in with a glass of water. My vision blurs and I stumble forward and she rushes to catch me, except she is no longer my mother. She is Zelena and she is here to bring me my water. I thrash in her arms violently and she surprisingly lets me go quickly. I crawl away from her and try in vain to blend in with the wall. The door flies open and someone rushes in, though I don't bother to look to see who.

"Please, no more. Don't hurt me anymore." I plead with her and I look over at the person who entered the room. David is looking at me with tears in his eyes. I look back over to where Zelena was standing and see Mary Margret looking at my with a similar expression of grief and horror. I feel darkness swell inside of me and Isabella shouts, "I told you to get away when you could, now they've got you trapped."

I growl and stand up to become eye level with my parents, "Why did you bring me here? I've been doing just fine on my own." David looks as if he's about to say something but is interrupted when a baby's cry is heard from downstairs. Fire ignites in my heart and I scowl at the people before me, "Ah, if it isn't _the replacement_," I say coldly, "Don't mind me, go and take care of your child. Perhaps the second time's the charm?" They wince at my words and I smirk.

"We want to help, Emma. Regina put that enchanted bracelet on you to prevent you from using your magic and it put a curse on you so you won't be able to hurt anyone." David says evenly, though pain is still evident in his eyes. Memories of what I did to Belle fill my mind and I feel no remorse now. I chuckle, "I don't need to hurt you physically. All I need to get what I want is to tell you everything you've done to me by putting me in the fucking wardrobe."

Mary Margret makes a quiet pained noise before hesitantly scurrying out the room to stop the damned baby's crying. I grin at Charming and lean against the wall, letting my hair hang in my face without breaking eye contact with my father. The crying ceases and Mary Margret re-enters the room after a few more tense moments with another glass of water. I let out an infuriated shriek and run at her, she flinches as I grab the glass from her hand and smash it against the wall before whispering, "Fuck you."

I expect her to burst into tears again but she instead lifts her chin to meet my gaze and says in a powerful voice that I would expect a queen to use, "I am your mother, you will not speak to me in such a way. I am going to help you whether you like it or not."

I raise my hand, ready to strike her but as I bring my palm down it is stopped with an invisible force, that I assume is the curse from the bracelet. I growl and step away from her.

"You might as well have done it." I say lowly, looking at them with a deadly glare, "If looks could kill," Isabella snickers.

"Done what?" David asks gruffly. I smile and turn away, ready to change away from the painful topic, "You _abandoned_ me." I say accusingly.

"We wanted to give you your best chance!" Snow yells. I scoff in sync with Isabella, "_Get out_!" I bellow.

They flinch but still look determined to stay, "Get out. _Now_." I say in a quiet, broken whisper. They hesitate but eventually walk out of the door, making sure to lock it behind them. I fall to the ground and can't seem to summon the energy to cry.

I feel arms pull my into a hug and my nostrils are filled with the unmistakable scent of strawberries.


	8. Chapter 8

**Saving the Savior**

**Chapter Eight**

**AU: **Hi! :D Thank you all again for the reviews, favorites, follows, and reads! I really love writing this story. Sorry it took me so long to update, I have just been very busy so I haven't had much time for writing. :( **Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm. ~victorious_1415**

**Emma's POV**

I cradle my head in my hands and my slender, scaled fingers tangle into my silver hair. I have to remind myself that Isabella is not real and not let our relationship manifest into anything that will make me believe her to be more than a figment of my sick mind. My parents haven't made an appearance since our last fight, only opening the damn door to give me food and water which I childishly pile in the corner, untouched. I scratch desperately at the skin around my bracelet and darkness fills my mind yet again as I think about the ones who claim to be my parents. Snow and Charming think they know me, but they don't. I may not be able to hurt them physically for the time being but perhaps my torment towards them will eventually cause them to take their own lives. I know it's wishful thinking, they will probably just fall into a deep depression but a girl can dream.

A knock at the door breaks me from my trance and my obsidian eyes meet dark brown ones. Regina stands tall, the marks from my assault are now not visible on her slender neck. Her brows furrow as she looks down at my scarred wrists, the one with the bracelet bleeding steadily from my frustration. The Evil Queen meets my eyes again and the previous courage is replaced with concern. I make a grunting noise when she steps closer and try to flatten myself against the wall and get away from her.

"She's here to hurt you because of the other day." Isabella warns in a hurried voice. An anmalistic whining sound comes from my throat when Regina grasps my injured arm. I watch in shock as her magic radiates through my being, healing me.

"W-Why? I hurt you." I whimper in confusion. She looks at me as if I'm ridiculous, "I know what it's like to go dark... maybe not all at once, but I know how out of control it feels," she grimaces and continues, "Are these scars from Zelena?" I nod hesitantly and stand up quickly to escape from her smoldering gaze. I sit on the bed and glare at the woman in a suit with a look of rage that I do not really feel towards her. The white wooden bed frame digs into my spine and I don't bother to move away from the pain, it almost helps me feel grounded.

"We want to help you, Emma. You have to get better, if not for yourself than your parents and Henry," Regina pinches the bridge of her nose and I growl, "I'm fine, I feel better than I ever have. I will never forgive my parents for what they did, as for Henry, you should just be glad you have him all to yourself now... Congratulations."

She scoffs, "He misses his other mother." I grin at her and look at the ceiling, "I'm no mother."

She sighs and takes a step towards me and I hiss. I see her shake her head and walk towards the door and open it before stopping to look back at me and say, "Belle is dead, by the way." The door shuts and I can hear my heart beating in my ears. A shiver rips through my body and guilt swells so much in my chest that breathing becomes difficult.

"That's what she gets for messing with the Dark One," Isabella laughs. I growl lowly and my breathing becomes so erratic that I see dark spots in my vision. I pull at the hair on the sides of my head and a muffled wail escapes from me. I've killed someone. It's all my fault. I need to put an end to this.

Isabella screams in my head and hot, crimson tears stream from my eyes. My thinking is clearer then it has been since my transformation into this beastly form. It is apparent and imperative what I must do. I approach the mirror and can barely see through the red haze over my eyes. I pick up the hard wooden hair brush and slam it into the glass. The loud sound stuns me momentarily but I am broken from my daze by my sibling's high-pitched crying from downstairs. My grief is replaced with desperation and anxiety as I know my parents can come bursting through the door any minute now and stop me in this powerless state.

I snatch and jagged shard from the ground and stretch my chin up as high as I can and slice into the soft skin of my throat. I drag the weapon across my jugular and don't stop until I can feel my hair on the other side of my neck. I hear the door burst open and screams and my knees buckle under me. Arms hold me close and I can hear sobs from what I assume is my parents. I wait for the darkness to pull my under... But it doesn't.

I can feel my skin knitting itself back together and the voices around me become clearer.

"Emma, baby girl. Please wake up." My father's desperate voice cries. I recognize the sobs as Mary Margaret and she shakily wipes the blood from the sides of my mouth. The blurriness of the room fades and my eyes focus on my biological mother's pink, wet face. I regain my energy over the course of seconds and push myself away from her in anger. My voice comes out as a croak, "Why aren't I dead?" I shout to my parents, even though I know the Dark One can only be killed by their dagger. I try to grab another shard of glass to attempt again but am immediately tackled and pinned to the ground by Charming.

Robert smiles wickedly in my face and I start to buck from his restraining hold on me and scream in terror. He holds me tighter and yells something unintelligible. I squeeze my eyes shut in fear but when I open them I see my father staring down at me with a split lip and blossoming black eye. I try to weakly wiggle from his hold, burst into tears, and beg repeatedly, "Let me go."

David jumps off of me in an instant and I stand up just as quickly. "You can't trust them." Isabella says snarkily. I look at my parents and bury my depression and mind-blowing fear under anger.

"_You might as well have done it_." I say through sobs, repeating what I said from yesterday. Snow has the same fire igniting in her eyes from the day before and I know I have to snuff it out.

"Done **what**?" David yells in desperation while holding a very distraut looking Mary Margret in his arms. I scream and tug my hair so hard I feel like my scalp will bleed. I rip out a few strands and it makes a quiet snapping noise that is mostly audible to me.

"You might as well have done **it**! It is entirely your fault that I have suffered so much." I point a finger at Snow accusingly, "_You_ couldn't keep your fucking mouth shut and just **had** to tell Cora about Regina and Daniel," I point at David, "And _you_ put me in the damn _wardrobe_ and sent me to a place where I would be forced into foster homes for years and raped by my foster father when I was twelve! Then after I saved your sorry asses you had **another **baby, do you have any idea how shitty of a person that makes you? As if it couldn't get any worse you failed to save me in time from the Wicked Witch and now I am forced to live like this until somebody does us _all_ a favor by plunging my dagger through my heart. What I mean by "_you might as well have done it_" is, you might as well have gotten drunk and raped me on the table when I was a kid, you might as well have ripped out my heart when you replaced me, your damaged daughter, with a **new baby**, and you might as well have kept me chained in a basement and mutilated me for days until I was completely broken. I just want you to know that whatever other people tell you, whatever you tell eachother, and whatever you tell yourselves, I blame you for my suffering."

Both of my parent's faces are twisted in self-loathing, disgust, and anguish while silent tears run down their faces. I feel a pang of pain in my heart force my face to become devoid of any emotion even though inside I feel as though I am dying. David has me in his arms in a split second and he only holds me closer when I try to pull away, like in the station after I fatally injured Belle. I hear him mumble something into my hair and I can't quite decipher his words.

"Get him off of _us_," Isabella grunts angrily. There is no us, only me, I answer her in my head. The fact that my hallucination is trying to personify itself fills me with fear and I bury my face harder in Charming's chest. He hasn't stopped his mantra and I can now hear it clearly. He's saying, "I'm so _sorry_."

Melancholy fills my hear and I realize that I don't really want my parents to hurt and I know I've made this decision too late as I have already successfully done so. My mother places her hand on my shoulder and I look up to see her profile with pain etched into every feature. I shakily pull away from David and she wraps her arms around me as they both support my weight, not unlike someone would do with a baby. They make a few hushed exchanges and I am left with in David's arms.

I keep my eyes closed, trying to rely solely on my hearing because I don't dare to catch a glimpse at their mourning faces again. I hear the water running in the bathroom down the hall and sense tears, not of my own, hitting my arm. I haven't seen my father cry since our reunion after the curse broke and these past few days with the hell I've been putting him through. I hear my mother re enter the room and Charming picks me up in his arms as if I weigh nothing and passes me off to Snow when we enter the bathroom. I force my eyes open to see them avoid eachothers eyes and my heart hurts as if it's being torn in two.

I take off my clothes and try to ignore the pain that comes from Mary Margret when she sees my scarred body from Zelena that I had previously covered with an enchantment. She helps my weak body step into the tub and the water almost instantly turns pink. I smell the unmistakable scent of bleach coming from my room and groan as I realize that my Father is most-likely scrubbing his own daughters blood off of the floor.

"I'm so sorr-" Mary Margret shushes me and meets my onyx eyes with poorly covered sadness. She looks at me for consent and I nod before she begins scrubbing my pale, scaled flesh. I moan in pain when she touches a particularity sore and thick scar on my upper back. She recoils immediately as if expecting me to lash out but continues when crimson tears drip into the already red, soapy bathwater.

She helps me stand up and drapes a towel over my body and I try to imagine that she isn't consumed with guilt, I'm not a monster, my father isn't cleaning my blood off of the floor in the other room, and I am just a little girl getting a bath from her mother, the queen, Snow White. Mary Margret helps me dry off and grabs a white bathrobe from the towel rack that she must have put there before I entered the bright yellow bathroom with David. I fasten the ropes around my robe and squeeze some more water out of my hair into the sink as we walk by it.

The smell of chemical cleaners hits me like a ton of bricks and instead of bringing me to the guest bedroom Snow brings me downstairs and into her and Charmings room. I lie down on the bed and find myself unable to think clearly through my fatigue. My mother pulls up the quilted covers to my shoulders and I fall asleep on my side, trying to ignore Isabella's yells of rage and focus on my mom's pained breathing as she tries to hold it together.


	9. Chapter 9

**Saving the Savior**

**Chapter Nine**

AU: Hi. I know I haven't updated in several weeks, I've just been busy with finals coming up and moving this month. I also went through a miniature writers-block. This chapter is very short but I hope this is enough for now! :) Thank you so much for your kind reviews and great ideas for this story, they are always appreciated. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter :D Warning: Torture, PTSD, mentions of child abuse, suicidal ideation, and possible self-harm.

_~victorious_1415_

**Emma's POV**

Waking up in my parent's soft bed is peaceful before all of the memories of the previous night come rushing back to me. I manage to keep my tears from falling so I will not stain the white pillow case under my head red. I strain my ears and hear my newborn sibling fussing in the next room over and Mary Margret's humming along with it, trying to soothe the baby. Dishes clang in the kitchen and I move into a sitting position. My heart rises in my throat as I come face to face with an engraged Belle.

The flesh on the right half of her face is torn and pieces are hanging. Blood drips down on the bed and my I can hear my heart thumping in my ears. I propel myself against the head board and squeeze my eyes tightly shut. I begin counting slowly to ten and breathing more evenly. When I open them again the woman I murdered is no longer in front of me. I let out a shaky breath and try to calm my rapidly beating heart. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and dash towards the door, as if Belle could grab me and get her revenge any second.

I throw open the door and close it swiftly behind me, like doing so will trap the entity in the room. I go to the bathroom across the hall and brush my hair and teeth. The circles around my eyes have darkened and there is no scar from my slit throat yesterday. My scales haven't gotten any greener or more gold presumably because of the enchanted bracelet around my wrist that prevents my magic from having effect.

I hear a knock at the door and I nearly jump ten feet in the air. When I open the door Snow's quiet voice says, "Here are some clothes for you to wear." Only her arm and a small pile of my old clothes is seen through the crack in the door. I mutter a 'thank you' and take the clothes and put them on once she shuts the white door. I try to avoid looking at my scarred body in the mirror as I dress and instead look around the dainty bathroom. Unlike the one upstairs, this one is baby blue and has a white driftwood theme. Even the mirror is framed with the ragged, messily painted wood and that gives it more character. The shower curtain is white with navy blue anchors on it and the sink is bright white porcelain.

After I am dressed in my black tank top, spare red jacket, and jeans I twist the bronze door knob and walk to the kitchen. David is leaning over the counter and speaking in a hushed voice to Mary Margret and when I clear my throat his eyes widen before he forces a smile in my direction.

"Emma, I made you some breakfast." He gestures towards a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast at the breakfast bar. I walk hesitantly towards my nervous parents silently sit down and shovel the food into my mouth. I think the last time I ate was at station when I ate the doughnut. I guess being the Dark One means I rarely get hungry.

I finish my meal and chug down the glass of orange juice before me which tastes strange with the mingling flavor of mint toothpaste in my mouth. I wipe my mouth with my hand and look up at Charming, "Are we going to work today?"

He looks at me with an expression of aghast. I frown, "We still have to take care of the Elsa situation."

He drags his hand over his face and I notice the bags under his eyes, "It's been resolved, she's working with us now." I narrow my black eyes in suspicion, "What is she working with you on?"

David sighs and places his hands on the counter in front of me, "Emma, you aren't ready to be working again. You still need to recov-" I cut him off,

"You're lying. People are still scared of me aren't they? Because of Belle?" I force the words out and subconsciously flinch when he pushes a strand of silver hair from my eyes.

He frowns and says, "It wasn't your fault. The dark curse made you do what you did." I glare at him and feel the familiar darkness begin to ignite in my heart and poisonous words start to brew in my mouth. Though before I can respond he continues, "People are scared of the darkness in you, not you."

I gasp in mock shock and place my glittering hand on my heart, "You think so highly of me, Prince Charming!" I snicker and drink the last of my orange juice. David sighs and runs a hand through his short hair before looking towards my mother with an exasperated look across his features. I growl as the unnecessary darkness in my beating organ begins to burn hotter and more hurtful words, not of my own, threaten to spew from my lips. I force the images of my parents grieving faces from the previous night in my head after I let the darkness take over and my need to see suffering only increases. A tremor tears through my whole body and Mary Margret and David look towards me immediately with matching concerned expressions.

"Kill them." Isabella whispers in my ear with a voice only I will ever hear. My hair falls in my face and my parents dead and bleeding bodies flash through my mind. I grit my teeth and stand up so quickly the stool I was sitting on falls backwards.

"I need to go now," I say scratchily as I pull up my sleeve and extend my arm with the bracelet towards them. Through the curtain of my hair I can see Charming open his mouth, about to protest. I know I can't actually inflict pain on anybody with this bracelet on but the magic building up inside of me is making me feel like I'm going to explode. A growls rips through me and my skin starts shimmering more and more. I don't know what has brought this on, but it is almost as painful as Zelena's magical torture.

"Please, it hurts," I cry out and my sibling starts crying in the other room from the noise. Neither of my parents move to silence the child or remove my enchanted cuff. A wave of excruciating pain knocks me onto the floor and my eyes are squeezed so tightly shut that I see fireworks behind my eyelids. Footsteps rush towards me and I feel the bracelet being torn off of me as if it is the easiest thing in the world. The agony doesn't stop and I know I'm about to explode. With my last ounce of energy I transport myself to the woods, away from my family, so I wont hurt them. The ground is hard and wet from dew beneath my body and my scream pierces the morning air. It begins raining and my body is soon soaked. I hear trees falling down around me from the supernaturally strong winds.

My last thought is how worried my parents must be and how lucky I am that I was able to get away from them in time. I try to focus on returning to them and things going back to the way they used to be but my common sense reminds me of my bitter reality so I return to my suffering, completely and utterly alone.


End file.
